Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson won the 1973 and 1977 World Series MVPs. Jackson hit five home runs in the 1977 World Series, and took the nickname "Mr. October".

The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series,^[1] which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The award was first presented in 1955 as the SPORT Magazine Award, but is now decided during the final game of the Series by a committee of reporters and officials present at the game.^[2][3] On September 29, 2017, it was renamed in honor of Willie Mays in remembrance of the 63rd anniversary of The Catch.^[4] Mays never won the award himself.

Pitchers have been named Series MVP twenty-nine (29) times; four of them were relief pitchers. Twelve of the first fourteen World Series MVPs were won by pitchers; from 1969 until 1986, the proportion of pitcher MVPs declined--Rollie Fingers (1974) and Bret Saberhagen (1985) were the only two pitchers to win the award in this period. From 1987 until 1991, all of the World Series MVPs were pitchers, and, since 1995, pitchers have won the award nine times. Bobby Richardson of the 1960 New York Yankees is the only player in World Series history to be named MVP despite being on the losing team and as the second basemen in the same year. Stephen Strasburg (2019 winner), is the only first overall draft pick to win the award.^[5] The most recent winner is Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler, who won the award in 2021.

Trophy

The World Series MVP award up to 2017 was a trophy that was similar to the Commissioner's Trophy, albeit scaled down and with a single large gold-plated flag.

After being renamed to Willie Mays World Series MVP Award for the 2018 edition and onward, the trophy is a wooden pedestal topped by a bronze sculpture of Willie Mays making the iconic catch in the 1954 World Series.

General Motors has provided a vehicle to the World Series MVP winner for 14 straight seasons through 2018.^[6]

Winners

Don Larsen won the World Series MVP in the 1956 World Series with the New York Yankees. Larsen is the only pitcher to pitch a perfect game in World Series history.

Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson won the 1970 World Series MVP Award.

Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers won the 1974 World Series MVP with the Oakland Athletics.

Pete Rose won the 1975 World Series MVP with the Cincinnati Reds, and became the second third baseman to win the award.

Hall of Famer Johnny Bench won the World Series MVP in the 1976 World Series.

Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt won the 1980 World Series MVP with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Steve Yeager was one of the three 1981 World Series MVPs for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Orel Hershiser won the NL Cy Young Award, the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP in the 1988 season.

Dave Stewart won the 1989 World Series MVP with the Oakland Athletics.

Tom Glavine won the World Series MVP in the 1995 World Series with the Atlanta Braves.

Mariano Rivera won the 1999 World Series MVP with the New York Yankees.

Derek Jeter won the World Series MVP in 2000 World Series with the New York Yankees.

Randy Johnson (top) and Curt Schilling shared the World Series MVP Award in 2001.

Troy Glaus won the MVP award in 2002 with the Anaheim Angels.

Mike Lowell won the World Series MVP in the 2007 World Series with the Boston Red Sox.

In 2009, Hideki Matsui became the first Japanese-born player, as well as the first full-time designated hitter, to win the award.

Pablo Sandoval was MVP in 2012 for the San Francisco Giants.

Ben Zobrist won the MVP award in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs.

George Springer won the MVP award in 2017 for the Houston Astros.

Key

Year	Links to the article about that corresponding World Series
	Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
	Active player
*	Indicates player also won the LCS MVP Award in the same postseason
§	Indicates losing team in the World Series
^	Indicates multiple award winners in the same World Series
(#)	Indicates number of times winning World Series MVP at that point (if he won multiple times)

Year	Player	Team	Position	Selected statistics	Note
1955	Johnny Podres	Brooklyn Dodgers	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; both were complete games- 1 shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 10 strikeouts	[7]
1956	Don Larsen	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	1-0 record over 2 games started; 1 perfect game in Game 5 7 strikeouts Pitched first no-hitter in World Series history[8]	[9]
1957	Lew Burdette	Milwaukee Braves	Starting pitcher	3-0 record over 3 games started; all were complete games- 2 shutouts 2 earned runs allowed over 27 innings pitched 13 strikeouts	[10]
1958	Bob Turley	New York Yankees	Pitcher	2-1 record and 1 save over 4 appearances (2 starts); 1 shutout 5 earned runs allowed over 16+1⁄3 innings pitched 13 strikeouts	[11]
1959	Larry Sherry	Los Angeles Dodgers	Relief pitcher	2-0 record and 2 saves over 4 appearances 1 earned run allowed over 12+2⁄3 innings pitched 5 strikeouts	[12]
1960	Bobby Richardson	New York Yankees§	Second baseman	.367 batting average 1 grand slam 12 runs batted in	[13]
1961	Whitey Ford	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; 1 shutout 14 scoreless innings pitched 7 strikeouts	[14]
1962	Ralph Terry	New York Yankees	Starting pitcher	2-1 record over 3 games started; 2 complete games- 1 shutout 5 earned runs allowed over 25 innings pitched 16 strikeouts	[15]
1963	Sandy Koufax	Los Angeles Dodgers	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; both were complete games 3 earned runs allowed over 18 innings pitched 23 strikeouts	[16]
1964	Bob Gibson	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting pitcher	2-1 record over 3 games started; 2 complete games 27 innings pitched 31 strikeouts	[17]
1965	Sandy Koufax (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	Starting pitcher	2-1 record over 3 games started; 2 shutouts 1 earned run allowed over 24 innings pitched 29 strikeouts	[18]
1966	Frank Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Outfielder	.286 batting average 2 home runs 3 runs batted in	[19]
1967	Bob Gibson (2)	St. Louis Cardinals	Starting pitcher	3-0 record over 3 games started; all were complete games; 1 shutout 3 earned runs allowed over 27 innings pitched 26 strikeouts	[20]
1968	Mickey Lolich	Detroit Tigers	Starting pitcher	3-0 record over 3 games started; all were complete games 5 earned runs allowed over 27 innings pitched 21 strikeouts	[21]
1969	Donn Clendenon	New York Mets	First baseman	.357 batting average 3 home runs 4 runs batted in	[22]
1970	Brooks Robinson	Baltimore Orioles	Third baseman	.429 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[23]
1971	Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh Pirates	Outfielder	.414 batting average 2 home runs 4 runs batted in	[24]
1972	Gene Tenace	Oakland Athletics	Catcher	.348 batting average 4 home runs 9 runs batted in	[25]
1973	Reggie Jackson	Oakland Athletics	Outfielder	.310 batting average 1 home run 6 runs batted in	[26]
1974	Rollie Fingers	Oakland Athletics	Relief pitcher	1-0 record and 2 saves over 4 appearances 2 earned runs allowed over 9+1⁄3 innings pitched 6 strikeouts	[27]
1975	Pete Rose	Cincinnati Reds	Third baseman	.370 batting average 10 hits 2 runs batted in	[28]
1976	Johnny Bench	Cincinnati Reds	Catcher	.533 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[29]
1977	Reggie Jackson (2)	New York Yankees	Outfielder	.450 batting average 5 home runs (3 in Game 6) 8 runs batted in	[30]
1978	Bucky Dent	New York Yankees	Shortstop	.417 batting average 10 hits 7 runs batted in	[31]
1979*	Willie Stargell	Pittsburgh Pirates	First baseman	.400 batting average 7 extra-base hits 7 runs batted in	[32]
1980	Mike Schmidt	Philadelphia Phillies	Third baseman	.381 batting average 2 home runs 7 runs batted in	[33]
1981^	Ron Cey	Los Angeles Dodgers	Third baseman	.350 batting average 1 home run 6 runs batted in	[34]
	Pedro Guerrero		Outfielder	.333 batting average 4 extra-base hits 7 runs batted in	[34]
	Steve Yeager		Catcher	.286 batting average 2 home runs 4 runs batted in	[34]
1982*	Darrell Porter	St. Louis Cardinals	Catcher	.286 batting average 1 home run 5 runs batted in	[35]
1983	Rick Dempsey	Baltimore Orioles	Catcher	.385 batting average 5 hits; all were extra-base hits- (4 doubles and 1 home run) 2 runs batted in	[36]
1984	Alan Trammell	Detroit Tigers	Shortstop	.450 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[37]
1985	Bret Saberhagen	Kansas City Royals	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; both were complete games- 1 shutout 1 earned run allowed over 18 innings pitched 10 strikeouts	[38]
1986	Ray Knight	New York Mets	Third baseman	.391 batting average Series-winning home run in 7th inning of Game 7 5 runs batted in	[39]
1987	Frank Viola	Minnesota Twins	Starting pitcher	2-1 record over 3 games started 8 earned runs allowed over 19+1⁄3 innings pitched 16 strikeouts	[40]
1988*	Orel Hershiser	Los Angeles Dodgers	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; both were complete games- 1 shutout 1.000 batting average; 2 doubles; 2.667 OPS 17 strikeouts	[41]
1989	Dave Stewart	Oakland Athletics	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started; 1 shutout 3 earned runs allowed over 16 innings pitched 14 strikeouts	[42]
1990	José Rijo	Cincinnati Reds	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started 1 earned run allowed over 15+1⁄3 innings pitched 14 strikeouts	[43]
1991	Jack Morris	Minnesota Twins	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 3 games started; 10-inning shutout in Game 7 3 earned runs allowed over 23 innings pitched 15 strikeouts	[44]
1992	Pat Borders	Toronto Blue Jays	Catcher	.450 batting average 1 home run 3 runs batted in	[45]
1993	Paul Molitor	Toronto Blue Jays	Designated hitter, first baseman, third baseman	.500 batting average 12 hits; 6 extra-base hits 8 runs batted in/ 10 runs scored	[46]
1994	Series cancelled due to player's strike				[47]
1995	Tom Glavine	Atlanta Braves	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started 2 earned runs allowed over 14 innings pitched 11 strikeouts	[48]
1996	John Wetteland	New York Yankees	Relief pitcher	4 saves over 5 appearances 1 earned run allowed over 4+1⁄3 innings pitched 6 strikeouts	[49]
1997*	Liván Hernández	Florida Marlins	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started 13+2⁄3 innings pitched 7 strikeouts	[50][51]
1998	Scott Brosius	New York Yankees	Third baseman	.471 batting average 2 home runs in Game 3 6 runs batted in	[52]
1999	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	Relief pitcher	1-0 record and 2 saves in 3 appearances 4+2⁄3 scoreless innings pitched 3 strikeouts	[53][54]
2000	Derek Jeter	New York Yankees	Shortstop	.409 batting average 2 home runs/ 19 total bases 6 runs scored	[55][56]
2001^	Randy Johnson	Arizona Diamondbacks	Pitcher	3-0 record over 3 appearances (2 starts); 1 shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 17+1⁄3 innings pitched 19 strikeouts	[57][58]
	Curt Schilling		Starting pitcher	1-0 record over 3 games started 4 earned runs allowed over 21+1⁄3 innings pitched 26 strikeouts	[57][59]
2002	Troy Glaus	Anaheim Angels	Third baseman	.385 batting average 3 home runs 8 runs batted in	[60][61]
2003	Josh Beckett	Florida Marlins	Starting pitcher	1-1 record over 2 games started; 1 shutout 2 earned runs allowed over 16+1⁄3 innings pitched 19 strikeouts	[62][63]
2004	Manny Ramirez	Boston Red Sox	Outfielder	.412 batting average 1 home run 4 runs batted in	[64][65]
2005	Jermaine Dye	Chicago White Sox	Outfielder	.438 batting average 1 home run 3 runs batted in	[66][67]
2006	David Eckstein	St. Louis Cardinals	Shortstop	.364 batting average 8 hits 4 runs batted in	[68][69]
2007	Mike Lowell	Boston Red Sox	Third baseman	.400 batting average 1 home run 4 runs batted in	[70][71]
2008*	Cole Hamels	Philadelphia Phillies	Starting pitcher	1-0 record over 2 games started 4 earned runs allowed over 13 innings pitched 8 strikeouts	[72][73]
2009	Hideki Matsui	New York Yankees	Designated hitter	.615 batting average 3 home runs 8 runs batted in	[74][75]
2010	Edgar Rentería	San Francisco Giants	Shortstop	.412 batting average 2 home runs 6 runs batted in	[76][77]
2011*	David Freese	St. Louis Cardinals	Third baseman	.348 batting average Game tying triple in the 9th and Walk-off home run in 11th inning of Game 6 7 runs batted in	[78][79]
2012	Pablo Sandoval	San Francisco Giants	Third baseman	.500 batting average 3 home runs in Game 1 4 runs batted in	[80][81]
2013	David Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	Designated hitter	.688 batting average 2 home runs / 4 intentional walks 6 runs batted in	[82][83][84]
2014*	Madison Bumgarner	San Francisco Giants	Starting pitcher	2-0 record and 1 save over 3 appearances (2 starts); 1 shutout 1 earned run allowed over 21 innings pitched 17 strikeouts	[85][86][87]
2015	Salvador Pérez	Kansas City Royals	Catcher	.364 batting average 51 innings caught in 5 games played 3 runs scored	[88]
2016	Ben Zobrist	Chicago Cubs	Outfielder	.357 batting average 10 hits, including go-ahead RBI double in 10th inning of Game 7 5 runs scored	[89]
2017	George Springer	Houston Astros	Outfielder	.379 batting average 5 home runs, 7 runs batted in 8 runs scored, 11 hits	[90]
2018	Steve Pearce	Boston Red Sox	First baseman	.333 batting average 3 home runs, 8 runs batted in 1.167 slugging percentage	[91]
2019	Stephen Strasburg	Washington Nationals	Starting pitcher	2-0 record over 2 games started 4 earned runs allowed over 14 innings pitched 14 strikeouts	[92]
2020*	Corey Seager	Los Angeles Dodgers	Shortstop	.400 batting average 2 home runs 5 runs batted in	[93]
2021	Jorge Soler	Atlanta Braves	Right fielder, designated hitter	.300 batting average 3 go-ahead home runs 6 runs batted in	[94]

By team

Johnny Podres (top) and Corey Seager are the first and most recent Dodgers to win the award.

By position

Bobby Richardson is the only second baseman to win the award.

World Series MVPs by position

Position	Total
Pitcher	29
Third baseman	10
Outfielder	9
Catcher	7
Shortstop	6
Designated hitter	3
First baseman	3
Second baseman	1

Pitching total includes both starting and relief roles.

Multiple winners

See also

• Babe Ruth Award
• List of Major League Baseball awards
• Baseball awards#United States

Notes

• Johnny Podres won the inaugural award in 1955 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Podres, with nine wins and ten losses during the regular season, beat the Yankees twice in the series; both victories were complete games.^[7]
• Don Larsen won the 1956 World Series MVP after pitching the only no-hitter in World Series history, in the fifth game of the series; the no-hitter was also a perfect game.^[95][96]
• Bobby Richardson won the 1960 World Series MVP while playing for the losing team in the series, the New York Yankees, and had 12 runs batted in, a World Series record;^[97] he is also the only second baseman to win the World Series MVP.^[98]
• The first non-American to win the award was Pedro Guerrero in 1981.
• In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in the deciding game, taking the nickname "Mr. October", in which October is the month of the MLB postseason;^[99] Jackson had a total of five home runs in the series, a World Series record.^[97]
• Willie Stargell won the 1979 World Series MVP at the age of 39, and is the oldest World Series MVP.^[100]
• In 1996, John Wetteland won the World Series MVP, setting a World Series record with four saves.^[101]
• Sixteen World Series MVPs were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame;^[102] Alan Trammell (1984), Jack Morris (1991), Paul Molitor (1993), Tom Glavine (1995), and Randy Johnson (2001) are the only Hall of Famers to have won the World Series MVP since 1981. Molitor is also the first designated hitter to win the World Series MVP.^[98]
• Hideki Matsui, the 2009 winner, batted in six runs in the sixth game of the 2009 World Series, tying Richardson's record of most runs batted in for a single World Series game. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the award, as well as the first player to win it as a full-time designated hitter.^[103][104] He is also the only player named both a World Series and a Japan Series MVP.^[105]

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax won the award twice.

• Three players have won the award twice: Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965), Gibson (1964, 1967), and Jackson (1973, 1977); Jackson is the only player to have won the award with two different teams. There have been two occasions on which multiple winners were awarded in the same World Series: Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager in 1981,^[34] and Johnson and Schilling in 2001. The duo of Johnson and Schilling combined for all four of Arizona's wins in the 2001 World Series; Johnson had three of them.^[57]
• Twelve of the fifty-eight World Series MVPs have also won the MLB MVP, the Cy Young Award, or the LCS MVP in the same season. Koufax (1963), Frank Robinson (1966), Jackson (1973), Stargell, and Mike Schmidt (1980) are the only players to have won the MLB MVP and the World Series MVP. A total of six players won the Cy Young Award and the World Series MVP in the same season: Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford (1961), Koufax (1963, 1965), Bret Saberhagen (1985), Orel Hershiser (1988), and Johnson (2001). Eight players have won the World Series MVP in the same season in which they won the LCS MVP: Stargell (1979), Darrell Porter (1982), Hershiser (1988), Liván Hernández (1997), Cole Hamels (2008), David Freese (2011), Madison Bumgarner (2014), and Corey Seager (2020)--all of them were the NLCS MVPs. Koufax (1963) is the only person to have won the Cy Young Award, the MLB MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season, while Stargell (1979) is the only person to have won the MLB MVP, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season. Hershiser (1988) won the Cy Young Award, the LCS MVP, and the World Series MVP in the same season.^{[106][107][108]}
• In the 4th inning of the 2015 All-Star Game, 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner pitched to future 2015 World Series MVP Salvador Pérez, who struck out but reached first due to a passed ball. This was the first time the previous year's MVP faced the current year's future MVP in the All-Star Game. Bumgarner and Pérez also faced each other in the final play of the 2014 World Series: Pérez popped out.

References

General

Specific